


Breathless

by triumphforks



Series: Ares/Orion Gouenji/Kidou Drabbles [3]
Category: Inazuma Eleven, Inazuma Eleven: Ares no Tenbin
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 10:40:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15884403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/triumphforks/pseuds/triumphforks
Summary: Gouenji meets up with Kidou after he gives his warning re: Teikoku to Asuto in the Football Frontier prelims.





	Breathless

 

> _Done now._

> _Just got here! Waiting outside._

 

There was one thing Gouenji had learned very fast: take full advantage of _any_ time, any at all, where Kidou was within easy travelling distance. It wasn’t something either of them had thought about beforehand, but it very quickly became apparent that school, and club, and extra duties as representatives, and sheer distance, made it very difficult to meet. So much for best intentions: daily logistics had a way of getting between them. So when an opportunity came, he knew he had to jump on it, even if it did mean slipping away from training early with some hurried excuse and an internal promise to work extra hard tomorrow.

 

He hadn’t made it to the stadium in time to catch the match. He’d underestimated the window of distance and time needed to swap through the three train transfers - and Tokyo’s constant crowds didn’t make it any easier. But he was here now, it seemed just in time, and for once the rush of the journey had offset the mix of nerves and excitement that so often plagued him.

 

That is, until he saw Kidou.

 

He’d felt breathless before in his life - he played a sport that got more physical than it really should, and it was easy enough to get winded. But not like this. Never like this.

 

His mind scrambled to get in to order, to pull his expression in line, to get breathing properly again, to get itself back to _actual articulate thoughts_ and not just bold bursts of feeling. He looked away. Fidgeted, tried to push back his hair before realising that was stupid, it was already up, what was he doing? That’s right, breathing. Thinking… not whatever he was now, no, normal, simple, non-intrusive thoughts. Get it together. _Get it together._

 

Somehow, he did. At least, he thought he did - Kidou was closer now, and there was a smile, a wave, a quick pick up in pace to close the last of the distance, and he didn’t seem to be looking at him any differently.

 

“Hey,” he said, and he sure hoped it was just his imagination that the pitch came out higher than normal.

“Hey.” They fell in to step, following the gentle flow of the crowd away from the stadium and back towards the station.

“Is that the Seisho uniform? I don’t think I’ve seen it before.” Cool. Casual. That was a normal question, right?

“Yeah. It’s fine - the tie is annoying though.” Kidou loosened said tie as he spoke. _Don’t look,_ he warned himself.

“It looks good.” Eyes ahead. Still cool. Still casual.

“Mm.”

 

Something about that response cut through his inner struggle. Told him he had to look - so he did, briefly, frowned, and looked away again.

“Everything OK?” He asked, keeping his voice level now for an entirely different reason.

“Mm.” A response, but not a good one. He knew probing would do nothing, and if there really was something going on, Kidou would tell him when he needed to. But for now he resigned himself to adding yet another complicated emotion on to the pile, and resolved instead to focus on finding a distraction for the both of them.

 

He felt his issue might be a bit harder to avoid.

 

“What do you want to do?” He asked, as though the previous question hadn’t happened.

“Food?” A pause, ever so briefly, and then something seemed to light in Kidou. “Loser has to pay.” He was hit with a nudge to the side, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“How long are you going to keep holding that over me?”

“Honestly? As long as I can.” Kidou’s voice was lighter now, and he smiled to himself. Good. And food - food seemed like a mission. He reached over to grab Kidou’s shoulder with a _come this way,_ pushing sideways through the crowd, diverting from the station to explore the area around the stadium instead.

 

 _Take advantage of the time you have,_ he reminded himself, even if that time was destined to be full of distractions. Sometimes it was good to just _be,_ and forget everything else.


End file.
